After 'Tumhari Amrita' Its 'Aapki Soniya'

Tumhari Amrita sequel is another stunner

Bella Jaisinghani

Seldom has hatred taken on such a beautiful garb as this. Listen to Soniya spew venom against Zulfiqar in Aapki Soniya in chaste Urdu, and the full intensity of her feelings hits you in a manner rarely seen on stage before. In an instant, the scenes of confrontation in K Asif’s Mughal-E-Azam flash before the mind’s eye. That was when the majesty and grandeur of the Urdu language was brought forward in all its finery without a single bad word being used.

Aapki Soniya was born with a silver spoon in its mouth. It is the sequel of a towering success as Tumhari Amrita which Shabana Azmi and Farooque Shaikh have been performing to packed houses across the world for no less than 13 years. Luckily, having the same writer in Javed Siddiqi has made it easier to live up to expectations.

The play stars Farooque Shaikh and Sonali Bendre, each propped up by nothing fancier than a desk and a chair, and a bunch of letters. Salim Arif has taken on the mantle of director while his wife Lubna Salim has produced the play.

The exchange starts with Soniya, Amrita’s French born daughter, writing to ageing governor Syed Zulfiqar Haider who is recuperating after a heart attack. She believes it is he who is responsible for leading her mother away from her when she was a baby. Soniya demands to know the exact nature of the relationship he shared with her mother and how Amrita could have been as callous as to leave her child in the care of her drunkard French lover, Andy. Zulfiqar, meanwhile, is equally disturbed by the revelation that Amrita had a daughter, and once he brings himself to accept that, the narrative progresses.

Each letter displays the nature of this strange relationship — Soniya’s threats, Zulfi’s coaxing and cajoling — even as some light moments are brought forward in a sea of tumult.

Sonali Bendre has worked hard on her diction and the results are evident; she does not fumble over Ghalib’s couplets or Siddiqi’s metaphors. She is the surprise element. Shaikh’s talent, meanwhile, is a foregone conclusion. He is the reason, Siddiqi says, a sequel became possible. True to nature, he stands rock-solid behind the script holding it up with his perfect intonations and his mellow voice. See the way he addresses Soniya as Bibi with respect, ladki! in exasperation and beti with fondness at the end of the play.

All the fears about Sonali Bendre being unable to perform and about the sequel not living up to expectations turned out to be unfounded. As Shaikh extended his hand to Sonali and brought her forward to take the final bow, the audience rose to its feet and erupted into applause. Playwright Javed Siddiqi was also greeted with a standing ovation. Addressing the audience as the third character in the play, Shaikh threw in a few words of praise for its responsiveness. Of course, the credit for it went to a class act.


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After Tumhari Amrita, success of Aapki Soniya proves that Urdu can still reach out to a wider audience just on the strength of its language; all its needs a good presentation. Congratulations to all the people responsible for this play.